Soros cautions government against full rupee float
19 Dec 2006
Mumbai: George Soros, one of the world's richest men, has cautioned the Indian government against full float of the rupee, saying, instead it should give priority to preventing overheating of the economy.
"You are in a booming economy, it is the role of authorities to prevent the boom from getting excessive to avoid overheating," he said.
Asked whether India should go for full convertibility of the rupee, Soros said, "No, I don't think so."
He said while the country should make rules conducive for attracting foreign direct investment, India should also be careful of capital inflows. India is a very important country and outside interest in the country is growing, he pointed out.
However, he said capital controls can be effective only at times of crises and cannot be a perfect arrangement. Currency controls are also not the right way of doing things, but overheating of the Indian economy should be a concern to authorities, he added.
Earlier, Soros released his book titled The Age of Fallibility: Consequence of the War on Terror at a session organised by industry body FICCI and Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources.
